The Flood wars
by Unscspartan
Summary: Knowing that the flood cannot be contained in the milky way galaxy for long. A lifeworker and her team are sent to a neighbouring galaxy to prepare the local species for war against the parasite. And to index them in case the parasite wins.
1. Messages

**_I do not own Halo or mass effect._**

_Father,_

_Unfortunately due to the distance between us it will be a while until this message reaches you. We will be stuck using this method of communication unfortunately it is the only form of messaging that is reliable over such long distances. _

_We have arrived in the new galaxy; the indexing of all local species will begin at once. I sincerely hope that we have beaten them here this time. So many species lost at the hands of the parasite. I know that you and your fleets will be able to keep it at bay, just buy us as much time as you can._

_The captain you assigned to this ship has already worked up plans to capture aliens with a minimal loss of life. I look forward to the work._

_Lira._

* * *

_ Daughter,_

_ You were chosen for this mission for a reason. I have every confidence in your ability to succeed. However be careful! Avoid unnecessary risks. We cannot help the citizens of this galaxy if you are lost. _

_My fleets will hold strong against the parasites onslaught, day by day they throw countless ships at our defences. We do not know how many ships they process. I am certain that even the parasite that has plagued us for so long has its limits. It surely cannot be long until it reaches out to neighbouring galaxies. We know it has the technology, maybe it just wants to finish us off. _

_Regardless, complete your mission and return to us soon._

_Admiral Agathe._

* * *

_Father, _

_Your concerns are noted but unfounded. Today we came across first contact with a local species. _

_We captured the ship and are in the process of examining it. It is… surprisingly primitive. There is no slipspace core, of any kind. Instead the ship seems to be powered by some sort of unknown element. The properties of this element are interesting to note, when an electric current is applied it can alter an objects mass. It has potential. I have attached all information we have on it along with the species biology. If you could pass it along to the builders they might find it interesting, and they would find more uses for it then me a mere lifeworker._

_The aliens themselves, they are vaguely human race that possess four forward facing eyes. All specimens we obtained are equipped with very primitive combat skins. Their weapons function with the same unknown element. They are virtually micro mass accelerators. The overall power and range of the weapons render them virtually harmless to us let alone the parasite. _

_Equipped on the arms of each creature were what appears to be wrist mounted personal computers. Our engineers are examining them as I type this message. They assure me they will have a full translation available within the next few days but it will take longer to work our way through all of the data. I am curious to find out about these aliens and their culture. _

_All specimens are still alive, and their species has been indexed. When we are finished we will wipe their memories and release them onto one of their species colony worlds. _

_If anyone needs to stay safe it's you. We will beat the parasite one day I'm sure of it._

_Lira._

* * *

_Lira,_

_I'm glad you're safe. The details of this element have been passed over to the builders._

_So we were right, that galaxy does in fact contain life._

_The war is still going well, we're holding out don't worry. Please keep sending any information back._

_Admiral Agathe._

* * *

_Father,_

_I write this in anger!_

_The translation of these "omni tools" as they call them came back. _

_We were right; this galaxy is teaming with life. Most of it has come together in peace to form a galactic government. They at least are worth saving._

_The aliens we encountered. They call themselves Batarian's. This species goes against everything we stand for. Their omi tools reveal their species to actively enslave others. In fact when they fell into the trap that we made for them they were attempting to obtain slaves from us, from my crew!_

_We woke one of them up. The one we assumed to be the leader. To see them try to explain themselves. I will include the log from the interrogation. Never in all my years have I seen a sentient species that disgusts me, apart from the parasite, this… this things utter disregard for life and the mantle. _

_One of the guards offered to terminate the subject, I didn't object._

_However let me leave the subject of that species. We also discovered a few things about the others._

_The main governing body calls its self the citadel council. It is made up of numerous different species. However the three main ones are called Turians, Asari and Salarains. We have included a log of all the species mentioned in the Batarians omi tool, even typing its name makes my stomach turn. But I digress. I draw attention to two particular species, the Krogan and the Rachni. Their biology is interesting, it is possible they could aid our fight against the parasite, but more research is required. _

_Also the phenomena "biotics" is a possible route of research, will need an Asari however. _

_One species caught our eye, a relatively new addition to this council. Humanity._

_We do not know a lot about this clone humanity. Is it possible that the precurses visited this place? If so could the parasite be here already?_

_We need to collect more data. But first I need to calm down and clear my thoughts. _

_Lira._

* * *

_Lira,_

_It is worrisome that this new species is violent. However they must be taught that their way of life is wrong. But that can wait. I trust you are continuing with your research into these other species? The data you sent back is intriguing. This citadel council for such a young species has accomplished many things, the construction of this citadel space station and these mass relays? That is no easy feat._

_I agree that the biology of these Krogan's and Rachni is interesting, however the data from this Omi tool shows that the Krogan have been sterilised. And that the rachni are extinct? Is this the work of the council? If so they may have unknowingly harmed themselves in the long run. _

_And this Humanity what about them? I have discussed it with the other admirals and we would like you to observe this species. But don't get caught! maintain secrecy for as long as possible. _

_Admiral Agathe._

* * *

_Father,_

_We have encountered an Asari civilian ship, the crew and passengers we a mix between several different species. We have indexed all of them. We have sent the ship on its way with a flash cloned crew. The council won't know._

_In total we have:_

_28 Batarains from the first ship_

_30 Asari_

_15 Turains _

_10 Salarians._

_5 Hannar._

_2 Drell _

_2 Volus._

_It is interesting. The data captured on the omni tools of some of these specimens indicate that the Citadel council (hereon referred to as the council) did not build the mass relays or the citadel. It is indicated that an older species built them and left them as gifts. This older species known as the Protheans controlled this Galaxy approximately 50,000 local years ago. Then they vanished. _

_This worries me, along with another humanity existing in this galaxy and an entire species disappearing without a trace. Did the Protheans encounter the parasite? I have so many questions._

_We woke several of the specimens up from stasis. They were obviously unhappy due to their containmen, the Turians in particular attempted to fight the guards and escape. _

_They were unsuccessful._

_During one of these escape attempts I was treated to a first-hand experience of biotics. One of the Asari burst past the guards in the cryo chamber and launched biotic attack at me as I waited outside. _

_It was strange. I felt weightless for several seconds before falling to the floor several feet behind me. All sensors in the room at the time of the attack recorded a spike of the unknown element that powers their ships. Could biotics and this element zero as they call it be linked?_

_The Asari in question was quickly captured by several promethean and Spartan class warriors._

_So far the Asari are the only ones to display biotic ability._

_The interviews with the Turians ended the same way. With hostility, below is a transcript of one interview:_

**_Begin log._**

**_Lira: "Subject is a Turian male, unknown age." _**

**_Lira sits down opposite the Turian. Two guards take up positions around the room._**

**_Lira: "What is your name?"_**

**_Turian: "What is this? Who are you people?" _**

**_Lira: "We just want information, we mean you no harm." _**

**_Turian: "Mean me no harm? You people hijacked our ship! You attacked us! Of course you mean us harm!" the Turian appears to be getting angry._**

**_Lira: "As I said, we want only information. Did we harm anyone aboard your ship?" _**

**_The Turian glares at Lira._**

**_Lira: "So I ask again, what is your name?" _**

**_Turian: "When the council finds out about this…"_**

**_Lira: "They won't"_**

**_Turian: "Are you stupid? Of course they will notice a missing ship, and when your species are under council control!"_**

**_Lira: Speaking into radio. "Send flash clone 2-472 in." to Turian. "You underestimate us. We have the technology to ensure we evade detection."_**

**_Turian: "Ha, What are you going to do clone the ship?"_**

**_Lira: "Yes."_**

**_Turian *snorts* "Don't be ridiculous! That kind of technology does not exist!"_**

**_At this moment the door cycles open and the clone walks in accompanied by armed guards._**

**_Clone 2-472: "Hey, watch it". _**

**_2-472 notices Turian. And falls silent. Turian sits with an open mouth._**

**_2-472: "Is this some kind of trick! Who is that." Pointing to Turian._**

**_Turian: "That's my voice! How… what" Turian attempts to stand. "Who are you"_**

**_2-472: "My name is Jarum Kryilik. Who are you?"_**

**_Jarum. "That's my name!" _**

**_Lira: "As you can see you are going to be with us for a long time. So I suggest you co-operate or we be forced to extract the information from you."_**

**_Jarum: inaudible mumbling._**

**_Lira: "I'm sorry?"_**

**_Jarum: quietly. "That's not possible" _**

**_Lira: "I'm afraid it is." Turns to guards. "Wipe the clones memory of this event and prepare the ship to launch." _**

**_Clone 2-472: is removed._**

**_Jarum: Repeating. "That's not possible, that's not possible."_**

**_Lira: "Although I regret using such tactics we need you to co-operate."_**

**_Jarum: screaming "What are you people" lunges toward Lira. Stopped by guards._**

**_Lira: "Put him back in cryo. We will try again tomorrow."_**

**_End log_**

_That is the only session that we used the clones. However the others ended without any positive results. I am requesting permission from the ship's captain to lift the information from their memories._

_The Salarians were peaceful we detected no hostility from them and gave none back. They seemed curious of their surroundings more than anything. We are aware of a stigma attached to this species, that they are the scientific species of the council._

_We were asked more questions than we were able to ask them. Eventually I settled for a question each. I asked a question about their culture. And they get to ask a question about the ship and our culture. I answered true fully but censored any information about the parasite. I feel as if they kept details back as well._

_Before you object to such a security breach, all subjects had their memory wiped before re-entering cryosleep._

_The Hannar are an interesting species. They are more aquatic than any species we have encountered. Preliminary analysis shows them to communicate primarily with bioluminescence. However the translation software in the omi tools we acquired proved adequate. _

_When asked about the Protheans they seemed almost ecstatic. They made several references to the glory of the enkindlers. When asked who the enkindlers were they replied with the Protheans. I asked why they call the Protheans enkindlers. The reply was interesting to say the least. _

_It appears the Hanar believe that the Protheans visited their home world thousands of years ago and guided them. Helped them ascend. As a result the Hannar hold the Protheans in a God like status. When asked about what happened to their "God's" the Hannar became quiet. The questing ended there._

_I will attach a full log of all questioning sessions with this message._

_We have discovered a lot about their history as well. They are afraid to journey through un-opened mass relays due to a war in their past. See Rachni wars._

_They encountered the Rachni which attacked them. They resorted to using the Krogan due to their violent nature to combat this threat. They won, but when the Krogan began to cause trouble the unleashed the genophage which sterilized most of the Krogan population. While such actions are questionable it is understandable. We will have to remove the genophage to prepare the Krogan for war against the parasite. However the krogan might see it as history repeating itself. _

_Another thing about the council is that they have outlawed the creation and use of AI's. When we questioned the more co-operative subjects of this they told us of the Quarians and the geth. See "the morning war"_

_The Quarians created a system of automated machines called the geth to help with manual labour. As the geth became more and more intelligent the Quarians started to worry. Fearing an uprising the attacked the geth. The resulting war ended when the Quarians fled their home world. They have been traveling the stars in a fleet of ships. "The migrant fleet." For years it is interesting to note that the council did nothing to help on of its members in their time of need. Instead they kicked them out to fend for themselves. One of the salarians revealed this to be "The Quarians punishment" for breaking a council law. _

_It is troubling how this council treats its members._

_Humanity as we found is called the human system alliance. They had a violent start to this galactic community see first contact war/relay 314 incident. This has led to a great deal of tension btween them and the Turains._

_They have recently gained a seat on the council for their part in stopping a geth attack on the citadel two years ago. We are on the lookout for human subjects to question._

_Stay safe_

_Lira._

* * *

_Father,_

_It has been a while since I sent my last message and have had no reply. Are you okay? _

_We have several updates. Our study into the Asari biotics is still on-going. But we have made progress. The data in the Omi tools shows that Asari are the only race naturally biotic from birth. Other species such as Humans need to be exposed to this element zero while they are in the womb. Even then the chances of a human developing biotic potential are extremely slim. About one in ten infants are born with a talent stable enough to merit training. _

_All species make use of biotic amps to amplify the biotic power in their body. Our tests with the asari show a variety of different attacks for all sorts of situations. However the Promethans were able to overrun and capture all test subjects. _

_A list of recorded biotic attacks will be attached. _

_We have also encountered a human ship; in according with procedure we will send a ship full of flash clones to the destination. _

_ The humans are much the same as we know. The only biggest difference is height, they are slightly shorter. _

_I questioned them on the citadel council. It seems as though humanity here doesn't favour the council. From what they tell us of them the council limits all of its member's technology and fleets so no one can challenge their authority. Any species that doesn't have a council seat are treated almost unfairly. It is likely that the council will try to confiscate our ship. We will not allow this to happen._

_The history of their species that we have discovered through their Omi tools and during interviews shows it to perfectly match up. The only difference is that they found element zero in 2148 on Mars, we didn't._

_As I've said the implications of this are astounding. Two separate humanities, but where we've been through hell. They've had a relatively peaceful life._

_I am recommending initiating first contact with this citadel council and humanity. However I feel as though we should not tell them the truth about our species. It could cause conflict in the citadel. Our combat skins will hide our identity. We will introduce ourselves as Forerunners. _

_An apt name, it's like we've almost become them._

_Keep safe._

_Lira._

**So what do you think. next chapter will be an actual chapter not just messages. You could think of this as a different version of humanities return, my original story. but it will be going in a completely different direction to that.**


	2. A strange place

He didn't know how long he had been stuck here. His memory was fuzzy, he could just about remember being aboard a civilian ship with several co-workers. Now he was… well he didn't know where he was. If only he could remember.

The Turian clutched his pistol as he continued forward. The environment was very dark, it looked like a description of a Rachni nest he had herd an old Krogan describe. Which lead him to believe that he was some distance underground. But instead of being carved out of rock the walls floor and ceiling were covered in some form of organic substance. It was lit faintly from some unknown source. _Maybe some of the organic material is bioluminescent?_ He thought.

He had lost track of how long he had been awake. He had no measure of time here; his Omni tool was missing for some strange reason. All he knew was that he woke up on the floor in this place and that a pistol was lying next to him. He picked it up and started to try and find a way out.

He had no idea what had happened to the people he had been on the ship with: his asari wife Leanna, his friends. All gone and he couldn't remember what happened. Maybe the ship had crashed on some desolate planet? Maybe something had attacked them? All he knew is that he had to get out of here and try to find the others.

A low growling noise caused him to freeze instantly. His training kicked in and he snapped his pistol up and scanned the environment for the source of the noise. He found nothing, just the same featureless organic material clinging to the walls. He had served in the Turian military when he was younger and he was thankful for his training.

What in spirits was that? He thought. He took a few moments to collect himself before moving on. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching his every move. He kept glancing over his shoulder only to find the same empty tunnel. After a while his path was blocked. A set of sphincter like things protruded from the sides of the tunnels forming some sort of door blocking his path. As he approached it moved, and retracted into the walls revealing the pitch black passage beyond. What is this place?

Unlike the previous corridor this chamber lacked any light. His pistol had a small torch attached, he flicked it on. The beam of light barely broke the darkness. He hesitated; he did not want to go into the dark room. But the way back lead to a dead end, maybe he missed something? He turned around to head back the way he came when he heard something that froze every bone in his body. A distant inhuman roar came echoing up the passage way toward him. Spirits! What is that thing? He didn't want to find out. Without a second thought he turned on his heel and sprinted through the doorway into the dark chamber beyond.

He rushed through the chamber with his pistol and by extension the flash light held up and arm's length ready to be used at a moment's notice. He ran in a straight line with the torch being the only thing to light his way. The feeling that he was being watched was stronger here, but he just put that down to nerves.

He didn't know if that thing was still chasing him. Or if it even was to begin with. Could one of the others be in danger?

After a while he came to a metal wall. Wait metal? He looked closer. The strange organic growths seemed to thin out a bit exposing some of the wall beneath them. And it was indeed a metal wall. Maybe some sort of underground facility? He thought a secret experiment gone wrong? But who would do such a thing.

He pushed the questions out of his mind, survival now thinking later. Keeping the wall to his right he followed it, all the while listening out for any signs of him being chased. He soon came across a door. Luckily it was unlocked. And when he opened it he was almost blinded by the light that spilled in. He quickly stepped through and closed the door behind him.

A long corridor extended to his left and right. Compared to the previous rooms this was almost pristine. The organic growths were still present but were few and far between. Maybe this part of the facility hasn't been overrun yet? He thought.

He turned left and followed the corridor. It seemed like some sort of fight had taken place. There was blood on the floor in some places but no bodies. This unnerved him and the silence was defining, he could hear his own heart beating in his ears.

All the doors he came across were locked or damaged. He wished he had an Omi tool. He wasn't the best hacker, by far but he could then at least try to open some doors. Who owned this facility anyway the council, terminus maybe? Or was it the humans, the rumours that surrounded the human terrorist group Cerberus were plentiful, but could they do this?

After a while he found a door that was open. He ducked through it and scanned the room it looked like a mess hall, overall it was unremarkable and looked like any mess hall he had be in before. The room was devoid of life and looked untouched by what had happened here.

He was about to leave when he heard a sound. He paused and cocked his head to listen to it. It was almost like someone was crying. He moved deeper into the room trying to locate the source of the sound. He kept his weapon ready, just in case.

He drew close to the counter at the back of the room where the food would be served. With the power still on here the menus still showed the food that would be served. He took note that they offered dextro-amino acid food. That meant this place had either Quarian or Turian workers.

He was certain that the sound was coming from somewhere in the kitchen. He glanced around the mess hall again, his paranoia acting up. The crying probably didn't help, it was just so dam creepy. As he carefully climbed over the counter it occurred to him that he had no idea if his kinetic barriers were still functional. And without an Omi tool he couldn't check. No matter he was a Turian. He would adapt. Keeping his pistol up he moved forward slowly. He swept his pistol in wide arcs around the room, constantly watching for any movement as he closed in on the sound.

The kitchen was a long narrow room, dived into three by two rows of workstations that stretched almost the entire length of the room. These stations contained various pieces of equipment that the staff would use to prepare food for whoever worked here. At the back of the room was a large double door that presumably leads to the storage area. The sound seemed to come from there.

He moved slowly down towards the door. He was thankful the lights were still on; he couldn't imagine this in the dark. He heard a growl behind him and spun. There was nothing there, he swore he heard something. Shaking his head he continued toward the source of the sound.

He reached the door and pressed his ear up against it. The sound was defiantly coming from here. He took a deep breath counted to three and slowly pushed the door open. He cringed when the damn thing creaked.

The lights in the storage area were out, just perfect. He switched the torch on, and swept the room with the light. The room had a very high celling, and the selves stretched up to it all the way from the floor. Boxes littered the floor their contents spilled out in mounds. He stepped over them as he made his way into the room. The crying seemed to be coming from his left. He followed it, all the time he kept scanning the dark room. He glanced down a passage to his right made by two selves and glimpsed something move. He immediately shone his light down the passage way, and saw a figure sitting curled up on the floor sobbing.

So this is the source of the crying? Whoever it was didn't seem to notice him. They just sat there, head in hands sobbing.

"Hello." he called.

The reaction was immediate the figure. Which he know identified as a Batarian snapped its head up and glared at him. The Batarian raised a pistol and aimed it shakily at him.

"Stay back!" the Batarian shouted. "I'm warning you! You won't take me! I won't let you!"

He fired a shot and before he could doge it his barrier sprang to life. Good to know that's working.

"Hey stop that!" he shot back. "I'm a survivor too. We can get out of this!"

"No, no." the Batarian mumbled, as he fired off another shot. "I'm not listening, I won't listen. I won't let myself get caught."

"Get caught by what?"

"No, no, no." he insisted, each word punctuated by a shot, all missed their intended target.

He heard a growling noise come from the kitchen.

"Stop firing your weapon!" he hissed. "You're leading them here!" whatever they were.

The Batarian didn't listen.

He weighed up his options. And when he heard footsteps coming from the kitchen accompanied by clanging noises as whatever it was knocked over cooking equipment. He decided to hide.

He ran as far away from the Batarian and the door to the kitchen and ducked down under some creates in the furthest end of the storage room, and turned his torch off.

He heard the doors fly open causing some light to spill into the room accompanied by a feral growling. He peeked out as much as he dared. And caught a glimpse of a misshapen thing standing in the doorway. He couldn't make out much detail about it just a silhouette. So he ducked back down to try and avoid detection.

He heard the Batarian scream, the thing roared in return. The Batarians pistol went off five times, the things roar only grow louder with each shot. A moment later there was a sickening crack. And the Batarians scream cut off. And the room fell into silence. He didn't dare leave his hiding spot however.

He stayed there with his eyes screwed shut. He could hear a sound, almost like it was sniffing. The thing let out a low growl then started moving around. He could hear it start to draw closer to his position. He felt his fear start to rise. It couldn't smell him, could it?

The sniffing and footfall stopped suddenly. He was pretty sure that it was just behind the creates he was hiding in. He made a decision. This thing was between him and the exit; he just had to distract it long enough for him to make a break for it.

He took a deep breath, counted to three and sprung up while thumbing the switch to turn on the light. It was closer than he thought, he saw a flash of movement and felt a pain in his side as he got catapulted off his feet and into the shelves next to him. He managed to keep hold of the pistol and wasted no time in bringing it to bear against the beast. He glimpsed a mound of rotting flesh and fired two shots before leaping up and running for the door to the kitchen. He heard a howl behind him which only served to motivate him to run faster.

He had almost reached the door when he stumbled over fallen box. He scrambled back up and fired another shot blindly behind him. He barged through the door and into the kitchen area. His eye fell upon a sharp looking knife he picked it up. He heard the doors slam open behind him followed by a feral growl. Without hesitation he turned and through the knife at it and fired another shot. The knife lodged in the things shoulder.

That's when he got his first good look at it. It was vaguely humanoid; it might have been a Batarian judging by the four eyes in its head which had been twisted back. Its face was a twisted mask of pain locked in an eternal scream. Its body had been mutilated, most of its flesh looked as if it were rotting away. Its left arm had several long whip like tentacles sprouting out of it. There stick like antenna protruded out of a hole in its chest each typed with red fuzz. They twitched angrily around. The Batarians body still had several pieces of armour attached in several places. The thing stood there screaming at him before it charged.

The dam thing was fast, much faster than any Batarian should have been able to sprint. He barely got a shot off before it had closed the distance between them and tacked him to the ground. His pistol sloped from his hand and went skittering across the floor. Dam! He though angrily. It ended up pining him to the ground and tried beating him with its fists. He grabbed both of its arms and refused to let go. It started thrashing around, trying to free its arms from his grasp. He needed to get out of here fast.

He glanced around and saw a pan lying on the ground to his right. It must have been knocked to the floor during the fight. Using all of his strength he gave the thing a shove. The pressure was released for a second as the thing was pushed off balance which was all he needed. He quickly reached out and grabbed the cooking pan and swung with it at the things head. It connected with a clear and satisfying TWANG and sent the creature sprawling to the floor to his left. He scrambled to his feet and quickly located his pistol.

Scoping it up he fired two more shots at the creature as it tried to get up. He noticed that where he hit its head a large section of the skull had broken open spilling out what was undoubtedly the Batarians brain. How do you kill these things? He thought. He moved backwards until he hit the counter. By now the creature was up and moving towards him growling, the stick like antenna twitching in his direction. Wait, is that controlling this thing?

He aimed for the centre of the antenna. Unfortunately the creature seemed to anticipate this. It charged forward and swung its wipe like appendages at him sending him flying over the counter and into the mess hall. He landed on a table and felt a sharp pain in his back and where he had been hit. Probably broke a plate. He thought. He was brought back to his senses by high pitched screeching coming from the kitchen.

The creature rushed over the counter almost faster than the eye could follow, and quickly closed the gap between them. He fired a round aimed for the antennas but missed. And then the creature was on him. It battered the pistol away into the far corner of the room and tried to pin him down again. He grabbed hold of its arms and quickly made a grab for the antennas and managed to break one off. It screeched in pain and redoubled its efforts. He knew how to hurt it now so he made a reach for another antenna and started twisting it. The creature howled and its attacks started to weaken slightly. It tried to bat away his arm but only succeed in helping him tear another antenna off.

It didn't give him a chance to reach for the last one; it started thrashing its arms in an attempt to hit it. Its attacks became unfocused, most missed. He pushed through its frantic attacks and made a grab for the last antenna and for the knife still embedded in its shoulder and pulled. It howled in pain and swung its whips at him again. He flew back a few feet before landing on another table, antenna and knife in hand.

The creature screamed and thrashed about blindly hitting tables and chairs sending them flying in different directions. He dropped the antenna and ran straight for it; he dogged the flying pieces of debris and plunged the knife into the hole where the antenna had come from. Its flaying attacks batted him back across the room but he came away without the knife. He glanced at the creature; it stopped moving and fell to the floor with the knife sticking out of its chest.

He wasted no time in getting up, retrieving his weapon and leaving the room before any more of these things showed up.

* * *

Lira watched the whole thing. It was impressive she hadn't heard of someone using cooking equipment to help fight the flood before. The Turian was smart. He figured out quicker than the Batarians that injures to the host body do nothing to stop the parasite. You need to destroy the infection form itself.

The monitors in the observation room monitored every detail of the virtual simulation. They could display security camera footage or even display what the subjects view point through their own eyes.

The simulation was incredibly detailed. They had created a world based from the memories of the subjects collected so far and simulated a flood infestation. The facility had no way out; the program would just continue to randomly spawn rooms as they were needed. The whole simulation was controlled by one of the ships AI's.

Most of the current subjects were hooked up to the training simulator remotely. In the real world they were simply in a medically induced coma. When a subject died in the simulator, through flood infection for example. They simply woke up and were returned to cryo-sleep. In the simulator their body was replaced by an AI controlled bot, which attacked the other subjects. All pain was entirely simulated and no physical damage would be done. She couldn't say the same about physiological damage however. The Batarian this Turian meet in the storage area came out as much as a wreck as he was in the simulator.

The purpose of these test were to see how well these individuals would handle a flood infestation. Which species coped better, what they did, how their biology gave them an advantage if any.

The Batarians had been sent in first. They had mostly been killed by the flood, but there were still some survivors left.

She observed the Turian as he left the mess hall. All of the current subjects were in the simulation somewhere. He would have to find them if he wanted to survive longer.

She knew of course that these experiments would have to be kept entirely secret from the council when first contact was eventually made. They would never find out.

She did regret having to conduct these tests. But the species of this galaxy would have to face the flood sooner or later. And she wanted them to be ready.

**Okay. What did you think of that? Contact with the council will be delayed a couple of chapters.**

**One thing I do need. A name for the lucky Turian featured in this chapter. Any suggestions appreciated! Thanks.**


	3. Caught red handed

**Unknown location.**

Lira walked the corridors of the _Ascendancy, _the ship that had carried them to this galaxy and had served as their bass of operation. At just under 20km long it was one of the smaller warships in the fleet but it still had a large complement of fighters and small ships that it could deploy in combat situations. Coupled with its own powerful ship to ship weapons it was more than a fearsome opponent in combat.

The ships systems were overseen by two central AI's one of which was operating the simulations with the native species. The other was conducting searches of the galaxies data systems through what the locals called the extra net.

It became standard protocol to always wear combat skins on-board military ships. She had the helmet retracted revealing her sharp features and dark back hair tied back.

The ship was currently drifting in an empty system at the edge of council space. The system had no mass relay so they would be able to avoid detection by the council spices. Information sent back by the AI on the Geth attack on the citadel had proved to be interesting. Some details did not fit however. The dreadnaught Sovereign as it was called was too advanced to be constructed by the species of the galaxy, even the Geth. Research into the human that had destroyed it, a commander by the name of Shepard had revealed some interesting information.

In his mission reports Shepard had made several mentions to Reapers. A species of sentient star ships that were pre pairing to invade the galaxy to wipe out all sentient life, supposedly Sovereign was one of them.

This intrigued Lira, who built the reapers, where did they come from? Her priorities had shifted from the combat simulations to studying this new potential threat. She had recommended to the captain of the _Ascendancy _a trip to the plant Ilos, in his report Shepard mentioned a prothean VI with information on the Reapers. The only problem was that the council were studying the ruins so they would have to get in and out undetected. The _Ascendancy _carried many ships capable of stealth but she thought that they should initiate contact with the council races. The plan was to have the _Ascendancy _drop out of slip space in the system a small stealth shuttle would then ferry her down to the surface to gather data while the council researchers were distracted by the arrival of the _Ascendancy._

It had taken a long time to convince the Captain to let her go alone. But she had convinced him that she could move faster alone.

She arrived on the bridge of the massive ship and watched the final preparations for the jump. The bridge was a wide open room with view screens provide a view to the outside space. Crew consoles lined the room in rows. Captain Fallon stood in the centre of the bridge overseeing his crew. When the ship was ready the AI announced. "Initiating slipspace jump."

A Bluish-black rift in space opened in front of the ship and the _Ascendancy _leapt through.

* * *

Ilos system.

When Ilos had been rediscovered by Commander Shepard during his search for Saren it had come as a shock to many citizens of the galaxy. A whole treasure trove of Prothean technology almost perfectly preserved after the Geth had been forced from the system and the area declared safe researchers from all corners of the galaxy had descended on the planet. Research outposts had sprung up everywhere. The largest base had been set up near the area the Prothean VI had been found.

Near the systems mass relay a tear in space opened up. And the _Ascendancy _came through. The slipspace rupture alerted every sensor in the system to its arrival. The small council ships started to move toward it. Broadcasting first contact messages. They didn't notice a small stealth shuttle drop out of its hanger and move toward the planet.

The _Ascendancy _sent a first contact message to the council ships.

* * *

The shuttle took a small detour to the planet. Staying well away from the council ships it entered the atmosphere and quickly descended undetected down toward the planet. It landed a few miles away from the underground bucker that housed the Prothean VI. Lira was alone in the shuttle, allowing the automated systems to guide it down. Quickly get in, get the information and get out that was all she had to do. The shuttle touched down and she did a quick check of her amours systems once more she opened the shuttles door.

Lira jumped out if the shuttle and landed in the dirt of ilos. Looking around she saw several ruins surrounding her. With a quick check of the map she started making her way to the area the Prothean VI had been encountered. Her combat skin adjusted for the environment. Looking around she saw old ruins sticking out of the ground her combat skins computers pointed her in the direction she needed to go.

After searching through the ruins for what felt like hours she found a research camp. She kept her distance and watched the camp from the surrounding undergrowth through her combat skins visor. The prefabricated buildings stood out with a stark contrast to the ancient ruins of the protheans. The whole camp was on edge, the _Ascendancy's _arrival had caused quite a stir. Salarians rushed back and forth between buildings, The Turian guards were alert. Most of the researchers were gathered around a central building. A quick scan of this building revealed it to be a communication centre.

Good they would be to busy to notice her.

She activated the suits active camouflage and slowly faded from site. From what she could tell this camp had been set up at the entrance to the tunnel where Shepard had found the VI. She began to move forward very slowly and quietly. The camp was relatively small only a few buildings clustered around the tunnel entrance which stood open. She moved into the camp careful to stay away from any particularly soft patches of mud so as not to leave footprints. She had to doge out of the way of researchers as they passed.

She entered the tunnel and proceeded to head down into the deep underground bunker. Pods lined most of the walls _cryogenic pods_ she thought. The floor of the tunnel seemed to be partially flooded. There were groups of researchers scattered though out the tunnels. She avoided them and ducked into side passages when the active camouflage needed to recharge.

Eventually she reached the entrance to the VI chamber and entered the tunnel. She was about to hit the button to send the lift down when she was joined by two Salarians who were lost in convocation. She retreated into the furthest corner of the small compartment as it commenced its journey downwards. The Salarians didn't notice her however they seemed too lost in their convocation.

"I'm telling you if we just try it again we could get it to work." One insisted.

"No matter what we've tried it has refused to start back up. What makes no any different?" the other answered. "I think the Geth might have destroyed the terminal."

_Interesting _she thought. _The VI is offline?_

As soon as the compartment reached the bottom the Salarians left to study the VI's console. She hung back. And brought out her pistol, she set it to simply stun the researchers. Brought it up and fired into the back of the closer Salarian. Alerted by his college crying out in pain the second Salarian spun around in search for the hostile. But only saw a brief flash of light before he fell unconscious.

Lira uncloaked walked forward and began to interface with the terminal. She scanned it with her armours system. As the data came back she found the terminal to be damaged she then set her suits AI systems to attempted to bring it back online. Once a connection had been established with the terminal she looked around the room.

Pods lined the walls down here as well. _What set these protheans apart from the rest? _She wondered. She looked down at the Salarians lying at her feet, c_an't be long before some notices that they are missing._

The data from the terminal started to pore in. The power supply to the device had been badly damaged however the data was still intact. Moving quickly she connected her combat skins power supply to the terminal, it took a while the different levels of tech made it hard to get a good connection but eventually power started to flow through the ancient terminal again. Due to the difference in the technology she was only able to get a trickle of power through the system. She began to download all of the data onto her combat skins computer systems.

The download would take time. There was a vast amount of information stored here, and as the information passed through her suit she sent a copy up to the orbiting _Ascension_.

She almost didn't notice the elevator behind her being called to the surface. _That's not good._ She willed the download to move faster. As soon as the download completed she severed the link and activated the active camouflage. And not a moment too soon, an Asari researcher entered the chamber followed closely by a Turian guard. They both immediately saw the bodies of the Salarians and the Turian rushed forward to check on them.

"Goddess!" the Asari exclaimed. "What happened to them?"

"They're still alive. Something knocked them unconscious." The Turian said. He then powered up his omni tool and waved it over the Salarians. Lira noticed he was probably using medi-gel to try and revive them. "Send a message to the surface tells them to send an armed team down here and to seal the doors we have a hostile down here somewhere."

The Asari quickly nodded and brought up her omni tool and opened a line to the surface.

"I bet this has something to do with the aliens that just arrived." The Turian muttered.

The doors were being sealed Lira had to get out of here now. She began to slowly make her way towards the elevator at the back of the room. The Asari seemed slightly distraught as she relayed the message. She was standing to close to the elevator Lira would have trouble getting past her.

At the opposite end of the room the two Salarians were stirring.

"Wha-what happened?" one of them asked. "You were knocked unconscious buy something." The Turian said. "No I just remember reaching the console and feeling a searing pain in my back then everything fades to black." The Salarian said getting up.

"I think its cloaked." The other Salarian muttered.

"What do you mean it's cloaked?" The Turian asked. "I turned around after he was shot. There was no one there. I glimpsed a glowing light coming from the elevator before I collapsed."

The Turian reached back and brought out his assault rifle. "Everyone keep your eyes peeled it's probably still down here, look for a shimmering in the air."

Lira remained still. All of the aliens were looking around the room making their way to the elevator. The Turian had its weapon out, the Asari's biotics were flaring and both Salarians had their omni tools ready. She began to move slowly toward the keeping away from them, unclipping her pistol as she went. The Asari was the biggest threat; the biotics could pack a punch, she would have to deal with that first. The Turian was not that much of a problem its weapons would not piece her shields. She didn't want to harm them but she would likely have no choice.

The aliens moved past her and reached the elevator. They stood their weapons and biotics aimed into the room. She sent a thought to the armours systems which hacked into the elevator to stop it moving. So when the Asari hit the button it didn't move. The Turian swore. "I don't think that it's a coincidence that the elevator stops working now. Whatever it is doesn't want us calling for help." He turned to the Salarians. "See if you can get this thing working." He said. They nodded and moved toward the control panel with their omni tools raised. Turing back into the room he shouted. "We know you're in here. Show yourself!"

She stood on at the bottom of the ramp that lead up to the elevator. She took a step forward. They hadn't seen her yet, the Turian kept his gaze on the path sweeping his rifle covering every inch of the path. She was confident that if she moved slowly he wouldn't be able to see her. She got half way up the ramp before she heard him mutter. "There it is." With its rifle pointed directly at her. A second later a burst of projectiles hit her shields but they didn't break, the rounds bounced off and landed in the floor. The camouflage did fail however with a shimmer she returned to the visible spectrum, brought up the pistol and fired.

The Turian slightly wide eyed at the sight of her combat skin ducked away from the blast and brought its rifle up. At this point the Asari snapped out of her shock and sent a biotic throw toward her. Lira was picked up and hurled back into the VI console. She brought the pistol up again to fire but the Asari had moved. She suddenly felt a restrictive force holding her down. _A stasis field_ she though _great._ The Turian advanced toward her with its rifle out the Asari followed close behind the strain of maintaining the biotic field evident on her face. The Turian reached down and pried her pistol from her grip and clipped it to his armour. "You won't be needing that." He said.

Behind him the elevator started moving upwards. The Salarians managed to get through the lock she had placed.

"You need to hold on until we can get more people down here" the Turian said to the Asari. "Can you do that?" the Asari nodded in response the strain evident in her features.

The Turian looked Lira over. "This armour system is impressive." He said. "I wonder what other secrets this new species is hiding." _Wouldn't you like to know _she thought. She sent a message to the _Ascendancy _informing them of her capture.

After a couple of minutes the elevator returned with more Turians and Asari. The biotics of the group immediately went to work maintaining the stasis field surrounding her while the Turians whipped their weapons out and took up defensive positions.

"Spirits! What is that thing?"

"Unknown alien species, armour systems suggest high level of technology, but the council haven't encountered them yet they must be relatively new." A Salarian rambled out brining up his omni tool. "Hmm scans show a complete lack of element zero, same as the ship in orbit."

"No element zero? Then it can't be that advanced, it wouldn't have any kinetic barriers for spirts sake." A Turian growled.

"No this thing has some sort of shield." The Turian that had discovered the Salarians with the Asari spoke up. "My rifle didn't even scratch it."

"Yes, yes high energy source coming from the armour, logical to conclude some sort of shield system."

After experimenting and researching these species for so long Lira was now the subject of their researchers. How ironic. It was entertaining to see them bicker; she could of course use her amours systems to relocate to the surface. An old trick used by the Forerunner promethean knights, but she wanted to keep that trick back. And this was an opportunity to initiate first contact, let the council believe they had the upper hand. So she remained still and allowed them to take her prisoner.

"Why would they send an infiltrator down here?" a Turian asked. "It could seem like a hostile move on their part, the council defiantly isn't going to let it slide."

"Only logical conclusion is they knew something about the Protheans and that they inhabited this planet. They chose to initiate first contact here and while we were distracted send an agent to gather data."

"It could just be harmless research." The Salarian continued. "It didn't come here with the intent to kill otherwise we would have two less Salarians on our team."

"Harmless research or not the council will still punish them." A Turian retorted.

"I am sorry to interrupt the discussion but can we hurry up and work out how to get to the surface before this biotic field falls." An Asari asked.

There was a pause. The entire group looked at her deep in thought. Then one of them asked what they were all thinking.

"How are we going to get it to the surface?"

"We release the stasis field and walk it up there." Another answered. "With the amount of biotics here it won't be able to escape it has to know that."

"You really think it would come quietly? It probably doesn't even know what we're saying."

"I can understand perfectly." She spoke surprising everyone present.

"How can you understand us?" a Salarian asked.

She remained silent.

A Turian gave her a long hard stare. "I am willing to believe this was a misunderstanding as long as you co-operate, understand?"

"Of course." She replied.

"I want you to drop you're armours shields as an act of trust. In response we will lower our weapons, understood."

"Yes."

"And I want you to remove your helmet."

"I am afraid I will be unable to do that." She replied. "The atmosphere on this planet is unsuitable for my species. I need the helmet to survive."

There was a pause the presumable leader of the group gave her a long hard glare.

"Very well drop the field."

The biotics released their grip on her and she rose. As per request she deactivated the armours shield systems. She doubted that they would even be able to crack even the combat skins armour plate.

The Salarian with the omni tool took another reading. "She's co-operating. The energy field is powering down."

"Right." he looked at her. "I am a Turian of my word; you kept your end of the deal I will keep mine." He addressed the gathered group. "Weapons down."

The group replied somewhat reluctantly. "Can I trust that you will follow us to the surface with no trouble?" he asked.

She nodded. "Lead the way."

They ascended the elevator in two groups then began to walk through the tunnels toward the research camp. She was in the middle of the group surrounded by a group of Asari and Turians. They still didn't entirely trust her.

She was in constant communication with the _Ascendancy _she had refused multiple offers of reinforcements from the ship's captain instead opting to initiate negotiations between them and the council species.

She could hear murmurs passing between the group, most were talking about her combat skin and how it produced a shield system without element zero. The _Ascendancy _itself was apparently was quite a topic. Many Turians were discussing the combat capabilities of ship that large that didn't operate on element zero. The Salarians had their omni tools out no doubt taking constant scans of her combat skin.

Finally the lead Turian spoke to her. "What is your species name?" he asked.

"You many refer to us as Forerunners." She responded.

"Forerunners." He said. "What an odd name, no offence."

"Any different to Turian?" she asked. "To me that's an odd name."

"How do you know our species names?" he asked.

"We are cautious. Before meeting we learned about the council and its species."

"You were spying on us, why?"

"We wanted to find out more about you before we met in person."

"Why did you come to this planet? Why not go to the citadel directly."

"A 20km long ship showing up at the citadel I don't think the council would have welcomed us with open arms." She replied. "Coming to this planet we could peruse research into these protheans and make peaceful contact with the researchers here."

"Attacking our researchers is not what I call peaceful."

"That was a mistake. But no species is infallible; my orders were to get in and out as fast as possible the Salarians were in my way."

"Why was the information you were after so important?"

"I am not authorised to release that information. However I am sure my people will be happy to release a copy of everything we learned here to your government."

A Salarian butted into the convocation. "Why do your people not use element zero?"

"Many of these questions would be better answered between diplomats." She answered and the Salarian looked disappointed.

"What is your name?" the Turian asked.

"My name is Lira." She said.

"Well Lira my name is Goren. And I look forward to reaching a diplomatic solution between our people." He said.

It was likely the only reason they were being so calm was so they didn't get on the bad side of the largest ship currently in the galaxy. Still it was good they were being diplomatic.

They reached the surface and she was lead into one of the buildings.

"I have sent a communication to the ship. A diplomatic team will be here shortly." She told Goren.

"Good once they arrive we will board one of our ships and head to the citadel." He said. "All diplomatic talks will be conducted there."

Good so they would be meting the council soon.

**On board ****_Ascendancy_**

**Computer simulation.**

He kept running. All of the corridors blended into each other he had quickly lost his sense of direction and was just running blindly putting as much distance between him and that thing as possible.

He eventually began to hear screeching coming from the passage ahead of him. It was dark so he couldn't see far. He strained to make out anything. He could hear something getting closer, footsteps perhaps? Yes they were footsteps running toward him.

Suddenly an Asari came sprinting out of the darkness and almost ran into him. "Wait you are not one of them!" she gasp. "We need to run, now." She said desperately and began running again. He followed her, quickly catching up.

"What's chasing us?" he asked. "One of those mutant things?"

"You-you've seen them too?" she struggled out between breaths. How long had she been running.

"Listen we can't keep running forever we have to face this thing. With your biotic and my pistol we can kill it. I've already taken down one of them."

"Okay, I will try." They came to a halt and turned to face whatever was coming their way.

"Try to get it in a stasis field, they have a weak spot I will try to hit it." He said. She nodded.

A moment later the thing sprinted at them from out of the darkness. A moment later the Asari brought her arms up and snared it in a stasis field. It was moving too fast for the Asari to hold however, its momentum sent it flying towards them frozen in a run. He brought his pistol up and fired three shots into its centre mass. He was certain one of the hit the fleshy area that the antenna sprouted out of.

They dodged out of the way of the flying alien and it landed behind them on the floor. It started to twitch and move to get up. He didn't want to give it the chance. He ran over and kicked it onto its back. He hesitated; this one seemed to be made from an Asari. He put a foot on its torn chest and unloaded the pistol into the antenna and it stopped moving.

He turned to the Asari who had collapsed into the wall and now sat onto the floor.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"She was my friend." She stuttered.

"What."

"She got attacked by this small alien thing." She shouted. "It borrowed into her chest and she turned into that-that thing." She looked distressed. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's all over now." He said. "We need to keep moving." He helped her up. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Rha'ila." She said.

"Okay Rha'ila. My name Parnik, We will get out of here I promise you."


	4. Grave thoughts

**Shorter chapter today. Negotiation scene taking longer than expected. **

**enjoy.**

In the darkest corner of the galaxy a barren sphere of rock that could hardly be referred to as a planet orbited a dying star.

The surface of the dead planet had been scared by battles long past, the desperate stand of a civilisation before their defeat. Its surface had slowly been roasted as the star aged and decayed.

Not a single organism lived on the surface.

Hidden under thousands of feet of rock it watched. It could sense the outside world through the millions of drones it had under its thrall. They send back information over the light years of space that separated them; all of them were interconnected linked together as one.

Many corpses in one grave.

As it watched through its minions eyes it pondered about its enemy.

It knew that the humans still had the array; they could still harm it as their predecessors had done eons before. It had to ensure its survival. It would not be beaten again.

The decision had come to leave the range of the arrays effect. It had already set its eyes on the nearby galaxy, undoubtedly teeming with life ripe for the picking.

The humans would pursue it however. So lost in their noble cause to bring about its destruction, they would chase it down to the edge of the universe if they believed they had a chance to defeat it. Like the Forerunners before them they were overzealous in their mantle to accept they own defeat.

A mantle that had been corrupted over the millennia it had existed. Even the Forerunners themselves were guilty of unjust actions under the mantle.

It made no difference. In time their defences would fall and they would succumb.

It had already sent scouts through slip space to learn about this new galaxy. The human's navy could not find out about the departure, only a handful of ships would be sent.

It turned its thoughts towards the war.

The humans were on the defence. As the Forerunners before them, they had retreated back into their inner colonies forming a line of defences around their core-worlds.

It could end the war now. The ships under its control were plentiful. If it wasn't for the array the humans would have fallen by now. Any move it made against their precious inner circle would be met with the array activation. They were like the Forerunners; if they were going to be defeated they would ensure their enemy would fall with them.

It needed the location of the ark. The massive construct had been repositioned over the centuries; it did not know where the control centre of the halos resided now. But it would find out.

Hundreds of human worlds had been overrun, thousands of human military officers capture having their minds searched through for information. One of these humans must have the information he required.

The Gravemind felt satisfied as new information was extracted from a captured human officer on a planet thousands of light years away. The information related to a human mission into the neighbouring galaxy.

A human admiral's daughter planned to save the species of that galaxy.

A though echoed through its mind, being a life worker she would know the location of the ark. That would be the location she would send the indexed species to. And her capture could cause the beak down of a major human military figure.

The order was sent out instantly to the scouts that had been sent to this new galaxy.

_Find her. _

* * *

**Location Andromeda galaxy **

**Salarian research ship en route to Citadel.**

Lira sat in the ships observation room. The method of FTL these people used allowed for strange lights to dance by the ships view ports. A far cry from the blank and featureless world of slip space.

A diplomatic party had been sent from the _Ascendancy _to open dialog with the citadel. She was being sent along as an adviser not officially part of the diplomatic party, her job as always was to observe. She had no doubt that things would go smoothly with the council. The diplomats were all handpicked for this situation.

The diplomatic party were on a tour of the ship. She had declined; opting to stay in the observation deck and think about the task she had been given. Two Turian guards were in the room with her, standing silently at the door. They seemed to be trying to intimidate her guard, the Spartans face was hidden behind a golden visor but she had no doubt that the warrior was returning the aliens stare.

The UNSC Spartans had survived through the ages. Their armour and abilities upgraded with each new technological breakthrough as it came. They were still the best soldier's humanity had to other. However she had to refer to them as Prometheans to keep in with the Forerunner disguise.

She turned her attention to a small data pad held in her hand, still no message from her father. Was the flood winning? Was her father safe?

She thought of her secondary objective in this galaxy. In case the flood managed to infect the local species and gain a foothold. The last resort.

No she wouldn't think about that not now. There had to be a way to beat the parasite she couldn't give up hope.

After all that's all a lot of people relied on these days.

She was brought out of her thoughts when the diplomatic party returned to the observation deck.

The captain of the ship accompanied them. He was an older Salarian with darker skin an intelligent eyes. His gaze swept over the group.

"We will be arriving at the citadel within the hour." He said. "The council are waiting for you to arrive so talks will begin right away."

"Thank you." A member of the diplomatic group, a man by the name of Javier said. "We look forward to meeting the council."

The captain nodded then turned and left.

The diplomatic group started to prepare for the meeting that would change this galaxy forever. Lira was left alone with her thoughts about her father and the war and hoped that she could find a solution in the races of the citadel that could help them fight the parasite.

For the sake of her galaxy and theirs.


	5. Citadel part 1

The Normandy exited the mass relay and headed toward the citadel. Commander Shepard walked toward the bridge; he had come to the Citadel as soon as Anderson had contacted him. The citadel had encountered a new spacefaring species and as the first Human Spectre Anderson wanted him present. Anderson had also requested that he came in his alliance dress uniform.

It was a busy time for Shepard, resurrected two years after his death to fight the collectors for Cerberus, the human terrorist group. Since he had woken up in the Cerberus facility he hadn't stopped moving, hopping from one place to another building up a team for a suicide run through the omega 4 relay. Anderson's message had come at a good time. All that Shepard had left to do was collect the reaper IFF and this trip to the citadel would give his crew time to relax before the final push.

His squad were focused on the task. They had all taken care of their unfinished business. Garrus had exacted revenge on Sidonis, Miranda made sure her sister was safe, Tali had proved her innocence to the migrant fleet. One by one Shepard had helped them put to rest any problems.

As he entered the cockpit Joker turned around to glance at him.

"Commander," he greeted.

"Shepard." Edi's hologram materialised at her pedestal. "I am receiving several reports that access to the presidium is being restricted."

"Must be for the meeting." He said. "Take us in."

* * *

Shepard stepped out into the docking area of Zakera ward. Garrus and Miranda followed him; they made a beeline for a transit terminal to take them up to the presidium. When they reached the terminal they called a skycar and piled in. Shepard took the controls, Mirada sat next to him looking over data on her omni tool and Garrus took a seat in the back.

Shepard took the sky car out of the ward area and turned it toward the presidium.

"Not often a new the citadel meets a new species." Garrus commented. "I wonder what they're like."

"We should just be glad they have peaceful intentions." Shepard replied. "We already have enough problems from the collectors and the reapers. I don't think we could handle another species determined on our destruction."

"Heh, we took down sovereign, we could handle them." Garrus said confidently.

"Cerberus reports that they have a dreadnaught 20km in length." Miranda said.

"Might be able to handle them." Garrus replied meekly.

"A 20km dreadnaught?" Shepard asked. "We could defiantly use a few of them on our side."

"It's strange." She said. "The council forces they made contact with did not detect any element zero coming from the ship."

"No element zero?" Garrus asked. "That's shouldn't be possible."

"It will be interesting to hear their story why they don't use ezzo like the rest of us."

That got Shepard thinking. "Maybe they evolved outside the reapers influence. It could mean that they would be able to harm harbinger and his buddies."

"But with no element zero?" Garrus asked. "I see your point but I'm having a hard time imagining how they could be a threat to the reapers."

"The Reapers are adapted to defend against mass effect based technology." Shepard said. "That was the path they desired us to go down, so they have put all their efforts into that line of research. They're not expecting attacks from non-element zero technology; these people could attack and kill the Reapers before they have time to adapt. Whatever you think they built a 20km long dreadnaught without the help of element zero that alone is an impressive feat."

Garrus nodded. "Time will tell Shepard, until then though we still have to beat the collectors."

Shepard chuckled. "Maybe we can ask them for a hand?"

* * *

The skycar approached the presidium and slid into one of the transit terminals. Shepard set the skycar down and they got out. The presidium was oddly quiet; the normal crowds of people that milled about the area were nowhere to be seen. This must be the restriction that had been put in place. Why hadn't he been stopped? He wondered.

A Turian C-sec officer walked up to him. "Commander Shepard." He greeted. "The council would like you present in the council chambers for the meeting."

"Sure, lead the way."

Miranda and Garrus went to follow but were stopped by the officer.

"I'm sorry only authorised people are allowed in the meeting."

"Head back to the wards." Shepard told them. "I will meet you their when this is all over."

"Have fun Shepard." Garrus said as he and Miranda re-entered the skycar.

Shepard followed the Turian officer across the presidium toward the council chambers.

* * *

Shepard entered the elevator to the council chambers and began the long slow climb up to the council chambers. Apparently the council was already in session preparing for the meeting, he hoped everything went to plan. They would need all the help they could get when facing the reapers.

He reached the council chambers and stepped out of the elevator. The chambers were as grand as always. He took the opportunity to watch the preparations as he climbed the stair ways up to the council. Dozens of politicians from every different race milled about getting ready for the meeting.

When Shepard reached the top of the stairs leading to the council he found Councillor Anderson waiting for him.

"Shepard!" Anderson greeted as he drew close. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine, yourself?"

"It's been hectic around here these past few days." Anderson said. "The emergence of this new species has the council worried, especially with their dreadnaught." As they walked up to the podium in front of the council.

Shepard smirked. "Sounds like the council to get worried whenever something bigger than them shows up."

"It's understandable." Anderson replied. "That's why we're being cautious. We don't know the capabilities of that thing and until we do I'd rather not give them a reason to show us first hand."

"When are they getting here?"

"They should be coming through the mass relay any minute now."

"And you want me present for the talks?"

"Actually no." Anderson replied. "They have a member of their group who is not taking part in the diplomatic talks. From what they've told us she's a researcher that would like to tour the citadel with a council Spector."

"Couldn't you get someone else to do it?" Shepard asked confused.

"They asked for you by name."

Shepard frowned. "How do they know my name?"

Anderson shook his head. "We don't know for sure. They tell us they got the information from the extranet, Sparatus has a different theory."

"Let me guess did the 'New and violent species hack our databases to learn more about us so they could plot our downfall'" Shepard joked. "Am I close?"

Anderson chuckled. "Something like that. But you have to understand their concern. A new species shows up out of nowhere and knows a lot about us. It's a bit suspicious." He checked his omni tool.

"They have arrived." He said as he read the data off of the screen. "I have to go and meet with the council, wait here for them to arrive. Good luck Shepard."

"You too Anderson."

And with that Anderson walked off and left him waiting for the council.

* * *

The small Salarian ship approached the mass relay that would take them to the citadel. The massive construct flashed when the ship drew close enough and catapulted them across light years of space.

Lira registered a small jolt as the ship accelerated, another difference between this form of FTL and slip space.

After a few moments the ship decelerated and revealed the citadel in all of its glory.

Lira was impressed at the sight before her. The citadel was large, almost the same size as a small fortress class vessel. It consisted of five massive arms with cities lining their surface joining together at a central ring; Javier admired the view. He opened a personal channel to her suit.

"For such a primitive form of technology it is impressive." He said.

"Supposedly the protheans built this place and the mass relay network before they disappeared." She replied. "According to the omni tool data the arms can close sealing the entire station against attack."

"A good defensive capital, your farther would approve."

She looked at him; he hadn't moved a muscle still gazing out at the citadel.

"Yes he would, wouldn't he?"

The Salarian ship sped towards the central ring. A large fleet made up of many different vessels moved about between the arms. The citadel defence fleet was made up of some of the Citadels most prestigious ships including the Asaris Destiny Ascension.

Lira watched the ships move about their tasks as the ship moved to dock. They were obviously showing their defensive capabilities.

The small ship docked and they were lead out of the observation deck and towards the ships airlock and out into the citadel.

It was quieter than she expected. There were only small crowds of aliens around the docks watching them. Several armed guards stood around the docks, C-sec she presumed.

Her combat skins systems started scanning the surrounding area. Collecting information and pulling it back in. Every detail of her surroundings was analysed by her suits on board computers and stored.

A group of C-sec officers approached them. The lead one, an Asari stood out in front.

"Welcome to the citadel!" side said. "We hope that we can come to an agreement between our two species for the betterment of the galaxie.

"We will escort you to the council chambers." She said. "They're waiting for you."

"Lead the way." Javier said.

The C-sec officers lead them through the presidium. The architecture of the area was beautiful a large lake ran through the centre of the wide open area. In both directions the structure curved away above them. This was obviously the interior of the central ring.

They headed across the concourse and entered an elevator which took them up the spire in the centre of the citadel. _The council chambers must be at the top_ she thought.

* * *

Shepard checked over his uniform for the fourth time. He knew it was fine but he wanted to make sure that he was presentable for the diplomats when they arrived. His thoughts were racing at a mile a minute. How did these people know his name and reputation? What did this researcher want from him?

The wait was killing him, he knew they had boarded the station and they would be here shortly. But that didn't stop him from pacing.

He paused and chuckled. He had faced down and killed a sentient star ship bent on the destruction of the galaxy and yet this new species had him worried.

He guessed it was because they were a complete unknown. No one knew what to expect, the only rumours of their appearance came from the messages sent from the first contact team describing them to be humanoid beings about the height of an Elcor.

They knew they had at least one dreadnaught that dwarfed the destiny Ascension, sovereign and any Turian dreadnaught in service. Surly a ship of that magnitude would take vast amounts of time and resources to build? Even if every species in the galaxy put their economies to the task he was certain that the galaxy would be thrown into a recession that would take years to recover from.

So why did these new people have a ship, and possibly fleet of ships like that? And why hadn't the council come across them yet?

Maybe he was right in his theory that they had evolved out side of the reapers influence, separate from the mass relay network. He had doubts though. Either these people were just extremely lucky or the reapers had made a massive oversight in allowing that to happen.

He wondered if they would actually listen to him about the reapers? Or would they just dismiss it as some myth? Their ship was bound to have some powerful weaponry that would be a godsend when the reapers attacked.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn't see them approach.

The first glimpse he got was of something silver moving towards him up the chambers many stairways. A few moments later a group of six humanoid figures covered from head to toe in silvery armour being led by a group of C-sec officers appeared at the top of the stairwell and started heading toward him.

He stared for a moment at the armour; It reminded him of Tali's environmental suit. It completely covered the users form in moulded metal plates that seemed to flow into each other. Where these plates interlinked a soft blue light shone through. That seemed to be the general them of the group, silver armour plates with blue lights. Three of the group stood out as they had golden visors on their helmets and their armour had a slight green hue to it. Each figure was about the height of an average Elcor.

When they reached him the C-sec officers were quick to introduce him to the group.

"Commander Shepard. It's a pleasure to meet you." One of the aliens said.

"It's always interesting meeting new races." Shepard replied. "Now what do I call you sir?"

"You can call me Javier." He replied. "I am the lead diplomat for these talks. Now I trust you have been briefed by your superiors on what we have asked of you?"

"Yes sir. I am to give one of your researchers a tour of the citadel."

"That's right." He gestured to an alien standing beside him, this one was slightly shorter than Javier. "This is Lira Agathe. She is the one we ask for you to escort around this station. She might be needed in the talks later on so don't wander too far. If she is needed we will contact her."

"Yes sir." Shepard replied glancing at Lira. He thought she was watching him but with that armour he couldn't tell.

"Good we will be in touch." Javier said as the group left to start the negotiations with the council.

"Hello, my name is Commander Shepard and I will be your guide today." He greeted. She was taller than him about the size of grunt. Her face plate had a small blue visor around the face plate.

"It's a pleasure to meet you commander." She replied in perfect English. "Shall we start with the tour?"

"Yes of course. Follow me." Shepard lead them down toward the elevator at the far end of the chamber." Lira in tow.

They entered the elevator at the end of the chamber and took it down to the presidium.

As they stepped out into the main area of the presidium Shepard gestured around at the surroundings. "This is the presidium." He said. "The thriving hart of citadel space."

As they walked along the central lake he could see Lira looking around at the architecture of the presidium. "I would assume that this area is quite popular?"

"Yes many citizens from around the galaxy come to the citadel to see the presidium and the other areas." Shepard could see that his guest was drawing stares from many of politicians and business men that were present on the presidium. He couldn't blame them; it's not every day that you see a figure covered in advanced armour strolling through the citadel.

They eventually came across the conduit. Shepard remembered the chase after Saren two years ago, chasing him to Ilos and chasing him through the conduit to the battle damaged citadel. They had stopped him and sovereign just in time.

Lira had stopped and looked at the conduit, Shepard approached her.

"That's the relay monument." He explained. "We think it was created by the protheans as some sort of art piece." While that couldn't be further from the truth the Council was still keeping some details of the miniature mass relay secret from the public, and he didn't want to overstep his bounds by telling the conduits true nature to a completely unknown race.

Lira turned to face him, that opaque visor made it difficult to judge facial expressions. "If it is nothing more than an art sculpture then how did you reach the citadel to finish the fight with Saren?"

_How did she know that? _

"How do you know of my fight against Saren?" Shepard asked calmly.

"We're a cautious species; we did our research before we made first contact, we wanted to know who we were dealing with." Lira explained. "Your name cropped up everywhere. First human Spector saved the citadel from geth attack. How could we not have heard of you?"

"So you've heard of my reputation?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, you initially blamed the citadel attack on a race called the Reapers." She said. "This is the reason I wanted to talk with you. I want you to prove to me that these reapers exist and if you're successful in that task then my people will assist you in any way possible."

Shepard weighed up his options. He could really use their help with the reapers. The entire galaxy could weather they knew it or not. However the council could be upset with him by giving out some of this information.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Anything you can tell me about them." Lira replied.

Running a hand through his short hair Shepard made up his mind.

"Do you mind if we head back to my ship?" he asked.


End file.
